1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a digital still camera and to a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since camera shake may occur when a subject is imaged using a digital still camera, a number of digital still cameras have been proposed to deal with this problem. For example, there is a digital still camera that issues a camera-shake warning when camera shake is about to occur (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-190980); a digital still camera having a camera-shake correcting function (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-14801); a digital still camera in which, when camera shake reaches a certain amount, read-out from an image sensing device is performed and exposure is performed repeatedly to correct for camera shake (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-32540); a digital still camera that senses the image of a subject continuously and superimposes each of the images so obtained (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-252445); and a digital still camera that mitigates the effects of camera shake by changing the speed of drive for performing read-out from an image sensing device (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-196321).
However, since camera shake is not prevented in any of these cameras, there are occasions where blurry images are obtained.
Further, there is also a technique in which the image of a subject is sensed continuously and an image exhibiting little camera shake is recorded from among the multiple frames of images thus obtained (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-136557).
Nevertheless, it is difficult to obtain an image that is free of camera shake if a time-exposure photograph is taken.
Furthermore, although there is a technique for combining multiple frames of images obtained by continuous imaging (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-357071), it is difficult to obtain an image that is sharp and devoid of camera shake. In addition, it is difficult to obtain an image having the brightness desired by the user.